Best Buy / best buy won't replace or credit a defective product

My complaint concerns Best Buy Inc. They do not back the products they sell. If they sell you a defective product that does not reveal itself within 30 days after purchase, they refuse to allow it to be returned for credit or replacement. They will not allow consumers to complain directly to the store manager.

On August 3, 2007, I purchased an XM Satellite Radio Boom box for $104.99 and an XM Radio receiver kit for $39.99 for a total cost with tax of $156.94. The display screen of the receiver began to malfunction about the third week of September. I waited a week or so to see if it was the XM radio signal that was the problem. After the display of the channels began to disappear soon after I turned it on, I called XM Satellite radio. After hearing my problem the XM Radio technician told me I should take it back to Best Buy where I bought it because the receiver was not working right.

Today, October 9, 2007, I finally found time after work to bring in the radio boombox and receiver. As soon as the clerk at the repair desk saw what I had brought, he said that he was pretty sure that Best Buy would not be able to help me. He said We do not repair these. Since you bought it over 30-days ago, you will have to talk to the manufacturer (AudioVox). I showed him my 12 month warranty from AudioVox. I stated that Best Buy ought to return defective products to the manufacturer and honor the warranty by replacing the defective receiver by another. He stated that he could not do anything for me and started to wait on another customer.

After asking to see the manager, Ryan Travis, Deputy Counter Intelligence, met with me. I told him that I felt a 30-day return policy should apply to only those products that had not stopped working and that Best Buy should respect the 12-month warranty on the receiver set by the manufacturer. That is the way stores used to do business. If your vacuum cleaner or coffee pot was defective, you could always get a refund, a store credit, or replacement from the store where you bought it. The store dealt with the manufacturer. But Mr. Travis told me that he could not repair my receiver and he would not replace the receiver or refund my money. He said that I had to contact AudioVox.

When I asked to talk to the store manager, he said he was the store manager. After pressuring him, since the card he gave me obviously did not indicate that he was any kind of manager, he told me the manager was not in the store and he was acting for him. He gave me the number of the Best Buy customer service line.

I called the Best Buy corporate customer service center from the Walnut Hill parking lot. I spoke to Steve (no last name given). I explained that I intended to file a complaint but wanted to give the store manager a chance to hear me out. I told him that I believed a store should back up the products it sold. I told Steve that I planned to complain online because I thought consumers should know that if they buy a defective product from Best Buy, they are SOL if the product does not malfunction within 30-days of purchase. Steve tried to contact the store manager, Don (no last name permitted to be given), while I waited 10 minutes in the parking lot. When he got back online he was quite apologetic. He said that Don, the store manager, was quote unavailable. He said he too had gotten no where with Ryan Travis.

So now I am supposed to send AudioVox (located in New York State) my receiver and ask that it be replaced. In the meantime, I do not have a radio that I paid over $150 to listen to.

What I want first is for Don to get the guts to talk with me about this issue. Second, I would like Best Buy to change their return policy for defective products. Who would buy anything expensive like a computer (14-day return policy) or entertainment electronics (30-day return policy) from a company that will not let you return it if it is defective!?

Comments

I brought the Xbox 360 system back to the store on day 30, which SUPPOSEDLY was going to allow me to get a new Xbox 360 system.

The manager named Brian, at Best Buy store 415 in Fort Gratiot, MIchigan, originally claimed that he would not allow the system to be exchanged, because it was "day-31."

I then pointed out to the IDIOT that there was no such thing as November 31, which means that I was still operating during the 30 day time period.

The manager, Brian, would still not allow the exchange to occur.

The terrible thing is that I have epilepsy, and I can't drive. I needed to get a special ride to the store, just to change the unit. I had talked to another manager who actually had a system waiting for me at Customer Service! But that manager went home for the evening, and then this idiotic manager, Brian, would not allow my system to be exchanged!!! We wasted $15 in gasoline expenses coming to the store!

I asked Brian if he was the manager over the entire store, and he said yes. I noticed that he was only the "Customer Relations Manager" though...I found out the next day that he was NOT the Manager over the entire store.

I was actually on the phone with 888-BEST-BUY for over 30 minutes while I was talking to this man, Brian, who was so rude to me. A woman named Pilar at 888 BEST-BUY said that she heard him being so rude to my mother and I that she took the time to file a Complaint against him for me!!! I thanked her for doing that!

The problem is, when I called the Best Buy store the next day to speak to a different Manager, named Jeff, I was told that when the Complaint to 888 BEST-BUY is processed, it will go to the General Manager over the store, Dave, and he will see what happened, and he not do anything about it!!! This means Brian won't be punished or disciplined at all for being so rude and not doing his job.

I then asked the manager, Jeff, if I could speak to this General Manager over the entire store--Dave. The manager named Jeff told me that the General Manager, Dave, has never "overturned" something that another manager has done in all the time that he has been there.

I reminded this manager, Jeff, that one time my mom had an unopened DVD movie that was two days past the 30 day limit, and she wanted to exchange it for a different movie, since it was a birthday present my sister received two copies of. The manager named Brian would not allow it...but when my mom asked to speak to the manager--a woman at the time--she allowed the exchange to occur. This is something that we feel angered Brian, because he said that he "noticed the name on the box of the Xbox 360 being held for me," and he said that was why he wouldn't allow it.

YES...you heard correctly, Brian, the manager at store 415 in Fort Gratiot, Michigan, LITERALLY said that he noticed my family's name on the box, and that was one of the reasons why he was not going to allow the item to be exchanged!

He told me to call 888-Best-Buy if I didn't like his decision...I did, and they simply told me that the Manager of the store has the discretion.

I pointed out that with a corporation the size of Best Buy, it is only a matter of time until a jerk is put in the postion of Manager, and abuses his authority. I pointed out that Brian is one of those jerks. I asked how I was supposed to overcome this problem, and I was told about filing a Report against him...Well, as I said, the Best Buy group of managers are friends, and they watch out for each other...filing a complaint won't do any good.

Someone at Best Buy NEEDS to pay attention...there was also another rude manager named Mike at Best Buy store 415 in Fort Gratiot, Michigan. He LITERALLY said that we could call 888 Best-Buy or Best Buy Corporate in Minnesota all we wanted, but nothing would change, because in the end the managers have the decision, and the said they weren't going to change their mind.

*** I brought my defective Xbox 360 back within the 30 days...and I STILL DID NOT GET A RETURN!!!

I had read that purchasing the Best Buy extended warranty was not really necessary. If the product you had purchased was going to fail it would most likely do so within the first year when the manufactures warranty was still in effect.

Wrong, the Gateway laptop computer I purchased did fail within 8 months of purchase. However Best Buy continues to have you return the product to their service department where no service is performed. After they are certain that the warranty no longer applies, they tell you to get lost. You did not buy an extended warranty and there is nothing else we are going to do.

Recently I received Best Buy Rewards Money in the mail, and I decided to go shopping with my mother so that I could buy a couple of Print Cartridges for my printer. I always have to go with my mom, because I have epilepsy and I depend on her for transportation.

This was the first time in five months that I had been to Best Buy, because I decided that I did NOT want to give Best Buy my business anymore. However, I had Rewards Points that were going to expires, so I had no choice or else I would be cheating myself out of money.

I thought that things were going to be fine with my shopping in the Best Buy store 415 in Fort Gratiot, Michigan. I had called the Best Buy Corporate office in Minnesota, and they reached the General Manager named Dave. Best Buy Corporate make it perfectly clear to the General Manager named Dave that I was allowed to shop in the store, since I had never done anything wrong in that store. Dave talked to me on the phone, and so did Best Buy Corporate, and they both confirmed and verified that I was allowed to shop in Best Buy store 415.

The whole reason why I was "banned" was because two times in the past I had heard consumers asking Best Buy employees questions, and the Best Buy employees gave the wrong answer. I am a fan of Home Electronics, and I felt I was doing the right thing by informing the consumers who asked those questions that they were being answered with incorrect answers.

Both times, the assistant managers asked me to leave the store. And both times I asked to speak to the General Manager of the store. And both times I was allowed to stay in the store. And both times I was offered a job at Best Buy, because I was told that my intelligence would be a great value to the Best Buy staff.

Sadly, a new General Manager named Dave came to Best Buy store 415, and he believed the lies that Assistant Manager's Brian and Mike told him about me. They were the ones who lied to the consumers and didn't like it when I told the consumers the truth.

Tonight, I went into the store thinking that I would be able to shop in Store 415 without any problems. At first, it seemed like that was going to be true. As soon as I entered the store, the Assistant Manager named Brian was about 30 feet in front of me in the same aisle that I needed to walk through. Although I don't like Brian, I decided to smile and say "hello, " anyways. Brian smiled back and nodded his head. I thought that everything was going to be fine.

WRONG!

I turned 90 degrees and walked 50 feet to where the Printer Cartridges were sold. My mom and I were in a hurry; we had lots of other shopping to do. It took us less than five minute--probably only three minutes to find the Ink Cartridge that we needed. As soon as I found the Ink Cartridge we needed, I picked up two of them and turned 90 degrees to the left towards the cash register. I was all set to leave the store without any problems at all.

Then, out of nowhere the Assistant Manager named Brian appears and says "I'm here to escort you out of the store."

At first, I didn't think it was that big of a deal, because Best Buy Corporate had talked to Dave. Although Dave did tell me that he would inform Brian and the other managers that I was allowed to shop in the store, I simply thought it was a mistake since 5 months had passed since I was last in the store.

WRONG!

I told Brian that I had talked to both Best Buy Corporate and Dave the General Manager, and they had both confirmed I could shop in the store at any time.

However, Brian said, "I'm in charge of the store right now, and I say that you have to leave."

My mom pointed out to Brian that I had not done anything wrong at all. Brian said that he didn't care, he had the right to choose who shopped in "his store."

I wanted to say, "Brian, you are a nobody--just a Co-Assistant Manager that is NOT the General Manager." But, I didn't say that; I tried to handle things professionally.

My mom spoke up and said, "Don't worry about it Michael, I'll buy the Ink Cartridges, since I haven't done anything wrong at any Best Buy store in the world."

Brian then rudely, arrogantly, and stupidly says, "No, you have to leave, too."

My mom asked why, and Brian said, "Because I said so, and I get to decide who can stay in the store; so you have to leave."

At that point I became enraged with a unique feeling that happens to me sometimes as a side effect of the seizure medicine called Keppra. It is a sudden burst of anger that only lasts for a second.

Due to the fact that Brian was standing in the way of the aisle, and because of the fact that Brian was not allowing me to purchase the Ink Cartridges, I threw the ink cartridges at his stomach. I believe one hit him in the stomach and the other one hit him in the chest. Obviously, those super-lightweight well-padded cardboard-box ink cartridges didn't hurt him at all.

Brian then laughs and says "That's assault."

My mom speaks up and says, "No it isn't assault; you wouldn't let him buy those ink cartridges, so he wasn't going to go out of his way to put them back on the shelf for you. You got what you deserved."

I was already on my way out of the store, but Brian yelled to the security guard--telling him to "call the police."

I was very close to yelling as loud as I could. I was going to yell, "EVERYONE, LISTEN TO THE REASON WHY THIS MANAGER IS ASKING ME TO LEAVE THE STORE."

The FACT is that there was NO REASON.

My mom and I were so quiet that you couldn't hear us talking at all. We were LITERALLy on our way to the checkout when Brian decided to start HARASSING US and telling us that he was escorting us out of the store--FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON!!!

I decided not to yell in the store; I thought it would be a better idea to call Best Buy Corporate on Monday and make sure that Brian was put into place, just like Dave was five months earlier.

I am not going to bother calling the Best Buy Fort Gratiot store to call the General Manager Dave about this. That guy is friends with Brian and he will simply say, "You threw Ink Cartridges at Brian, so you aren't allowed in the store." But there is NO WAY that baby excuse is going to work!!!

I didn't thow anything at anyone until both my mom and I had CLEARLY been HARASSED for NO REASON!!!

I went across the street to Wal-Mart afterwards and talked with their Security Chief and Manager. I was told that I didn't have anything at all to worry about in terms of "Assault." I was also told that the Police would likely not waste their time on such a matter, because they would say that they have real problems such as drug-busts and bar-fights to take care of.

The Wal-Mart staff members were absolutely amazed at the hard time the Best Buy Assistant Manager was forcing my mom and I to go through. This was especially difficult for me, because stress is the number one cause of my epileptic seizures.

The Wal-Mart Manager and Security Chief told me that I need to call Best Buy Corporate on Monday, and then ask for a special form of Passport to be sent to me in the mail. That way, the Assistant Manager named Brian can complain all he wants, but I will have absolute proof that Best Buy Corporate allows me to shop in that Fort Gratiot, Michigan Store 415.

On Monday, April 7 2008, I will call Best Buy Corporate and report all of these problems. I will also write an Update on this website to let you know what happened. All I can say is that Best Buy had BETTER NOT even think about siding with that rude Assistant Manager named Brian. If that happens, I will likely create an entire website dedicated to complaints against Best Buy--especially store 415. I will also contact Fox "Hall of Shame, " and ABC "Problem Solvers."

Best Buy, if you are reading this, expect my phone call on Monday!...I'm not going to waste my time calling Dave the General Manager or Brian the Assistant Manager; I've been there and done that. You guys can do the dirty work, but this time do it right so that ALL of the managers know what is going on, including the assistant managers.

And I want my Passport, because Brian will LIE on the phone and say he understands, but when the time comes he will say that Corporate doesn’t have authority over him; it is his decision who can shop in the store and who can’t. That may be true under normal circumstances, but I’m a special circumstance who had reached agreements with both Best Buy Corporate and the General Manager.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and Brian is a wet-toilet-tissue link in the chain! So, when I go in the store the next time, and Brian calls the police, I want the pass from Best Buy Corporate to PROVE that I am right, and Best Buy Corporate is right, and the General Manager is right, but Brian is WRONG!

I bought a laptop computer for $1300.00. It NEVER worked. I took it back twice during the 14 day period and they said that there wasn't one in the store (pearland, Texas). They finally - on the 14th day - gave me a display model that was scratched up and the disc drive won't stay closed. It does the exact same thing as the first one. It is a windows Vista issue. I have reinstalled windows twice and it stopped working completely last night.

It's called a manufacture's warranty for a reason: you have to deal with the manufacture. If you gambled by not buying the extended warranty and end up having a problem you should be on this messageboard to bad-mouth your bad judgement, not the company who sells the product.

I do not work for any company, but understand where the company is comming from. First off, I do not see how you can complain about Best Buy not replacing your goods after the 30-day period when you didn't purchase the service plan. That service plan is there for a reason, and not for idiot customers to just blow all that money away for no reason, its there so that best buy can deal with it themselves. Secondly, on all things sold electronics, and this is the truth, so bare with me if your too ###ed to know this, but the 1st year manufacturer warranty is incorporated in the price of the product, so when companies like best buy purchase this item from the company who made the product, that company is charging best buy for the warranty fee. So if Best Buy exchanged every defective product for the customer, they would be outta luck, since they would be stuck with an open box/refurbished product. And they cannot turn around and resell this product for the same price as a new one. So, UNDERSTAND HOW THE WORLD WORKS, THIS ### IS COMMON SENSE, YOU ###ING ###.

We bought a Nikon Camera from Best Buy 5-25-08. The lens stopped working on the camera 11-15-08. We took it to the store that night. We were told that the camera would have to go in for repair. We felt that since the camera was only 5mons old that we should not have to wait for it to be repair, that we wanted a new one. Which of course, was denied. Talk to Nikon today and was told that Best Buy could have replaced the camera. Called Besy Buy customer service, was told that the camera would not be replaced. Even though Nikon said that is was defected. I also told Best Buy there are numerous complaints about their store policy. The girl told me that was not true!!.

Please go anywhere to buy your appliances, electronics, even batteries, but do not buy at Best Buy. Once they have received your money, the customer service has ended!!! Read other complaints they are telling the truth!!!

Best Buy have terrible customer service and are very rude. I paid $325 cash for an iPod for my son least than 6months ago. The screen broke and the store's Geek Squad would not fix it and Best Buy would not replace it. They seem to not care about the fact that a cash paying customer was not happy. I even asked for a store discount on another iPod if I had to purchase another one and did not get that either. I will not on any occassion go to Best Buy again.

Best Buy has terrible horrible customer relations.In this economy, when other major retailers just like them have dropped like flies to bankruptcy, they need to wake up or they will be next. The store I speak of is in Huntsville, Alabama, and the whole strip mall around them is empty due to corporate bankruptcies. I bought a Nikon Coolpix camera for a daughter who was traveling to Italy with a tour, and before she boarded the flight (one day after we bought the camera) the screen was malfunctioning. She traveled to Italy with a camera that was broken. When she returned, I returned it to the store, (13 days after it was purchased) and they refused to take it back, saying it was a customer error and the camera could not have been a manufacturer's error, nor could it have been damaged while being in their store. A direct quote is "We don't drop things in this store." Unbelievable. If you have bought anything with a credit card, which in this case I did, you can tell them you are in dispute and not to pay the store, which I plan to do today.
The kicker is I have 4 children in an electronics age, and I have spent lots of money over the years in their store, but I will NEVER buy anything at Best Buy again in my life.
I would rather take my chances at any other store, or even some flea market, for pete's sake. Can you imagine Target doing this? Or any other store with decent customer relations? No, no, no.

I worked as a REP 2 (customer service) for Best Buy for a little over a month before I realized that this was not a company I wanted to be aligned with. Failure to honor warrantys, charging ridiculously high restocking fees, coercing customers into buying "extras" that they don't need and not honoring advertised prices are just an example of their underhand business tactics. I also noticed that management was not willing to deal with customer complaints and that I, a part time hourly employee was supposed to diffuse the situation myself. FORGET IT!! I will never shop at Best Buy again and I strongly encourage you to do the same. I was actually trained to try to talk a customer out of returning products... asking lots of questions and calling department heads over to talk to customers to try to discourage them. I felt uncomfortable with these tactics. If a customer buys something and decides it isn't really what they wanted, or recieved a gift they don't like, they shouldn't be harassed about returning it. Best Buy should be ashamed of themselves. I know I am!!

Best Buy, Sony and the warranty doesn't mean anything. They do not back their products, warraty thats a joke, and Sony & Best Buy sell defected products. Bottom line!!
Don't buy a Sony product, or shop at Best Buy!!!

I purchased a video camera for my daughter at Best Buy. The battery would never keep a charge. Best Buy replaced the mfr battery with a generic, which also never worked. We just gave up on the camera, and newer technology made it obsolete.

Best Buy depends on people either not complaining or giving up, etc. I knew the first time that I went in that store that they were just trying to drive the competition - good stores like Circuit City that provided actual customer service - out of business, and then everyone would have to put up with

Please remember that even when the RETAILER has a 30-day return policy, the MANUFACTURER warranty of fitness is ONE YEAR, and the retailer has to honor that. They may force you to deal with the manufacturer yourself, but they have to provide the necessary information for return, or if the manufacturer authorizes replacement, work with them to replace the item.

I don't like Best Buy. I was promised a Blu Ray player with the purchase of the TV. They claimed
it was on back order but I never received it. Obviously it was a come on to buy a TV. My remote
for the TV has now quit working. I am fed up with Best Buy.

I bought a $900 lap top at Best Buy yesterday. When I took it out of the box I saw that the bottom panel was warped. I went to go bring it back today. It was determined to be a factory defect. Best Buy kept $100 of my money since there was a 'service' performed when the geek squad pre-loaded virus protection on it. When a computer is purchased at Best Buy there is an option to buy it already set-up. This is considered a 'non-refundable service' by Best Buy. The right thing to do was to fully refund my money on a factory defected lap top that was returned within 48 hours. I lost that service when I had to return a factory defected lap top so I deserve a full fund. This is a nasty trick done to the consumer. Also it was a HP 6-3155dx/core 13. Letters will go out.

July 11 2011 I bought a digital camera from here and in less than a year of owner ship the zoom failed. They no longer had my brand of camera and the old one was not worth repairing. I had to swap up to the next model. Now I just got a flat screen TV from here and less than 24 hours later it is dead. All this and the computer I purchased from here has problems too. The computer is a couple months old. I got burned three times. I will never take my business to Best buy again!